FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans might have forgiven the Diamond Hogs if they phoned it in on Saturday. The Razorbacks have already wrapped up the SEC West title, the overall SEC title, the top seed in the SEC Tournament, etc. Plus, everyone was up late last night, what with the rain delay, the walk-off, the fireworks, etc. But this Arkansas baseball team doesn't phone it in. They win, they win, they win, etc.
The Razorbacks ran ninth-ranked Florida right out of Fayetteville, wrapping up the regular season with a 9-3 win and a sweep of the Gators. Six pitchers took the mound for the Hogs, with Jaxon Wiggins getting the start and rebounding from previous troubles with three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
Arkansas bucked tradition, actually scoring first for once, a two-run Brady Slavens homer kicking things off in the fourth. Florida tied things in the sixth, and Arkansas took offense to that. The Razorbacks roared to seven runs in the seventh inning, with Slavens second homer, a three-run shot this time, serving as the exclamation point.
Up next, it's on to Hoover for the SEC tournament, where Arkansas will be the number one seed. Then comes the almost certainty that a NCAA Regional comes to Fayetteville, where the Hogs will likely be the number one overall national seed. The Hogs finish the regular season 42-10 overall and 22-8 in SEC play, and become just the second team ever to win all ten SEC series in a regular season.
The Razorbacks averaged over 11,000 fans per game in the first weekend of full capacity at Baum-Walker. Expect attendance and perhaps even noise record to fall come postseason time for the best baseball team in the country.